Hershey's Extra Dark Chocolate
by Zora Arian
Summary: One-shot. Everybody's got to have a covert indulgence! Even if it's expensive, or hard to find, or that someone secretly knows...


**I don't eat chocolates that often, but when I do…let's just say I have expensive tastes. And my wallet doesn't exactly agree with my choices…PS. There's another fic here with Molly's love for chocolates, by jellybeanqueen101. Different story (and cute!), but I just want to clear any doubts of me being a copycat. I wrote this before she posted, and I've told her about it, so…yeah, just enjoy this (and Chocolate, the fic's title).**

Molly was in cloud nine when she got to the front door of her small flat. She had scoured through 6 different candy stores and finally found the bar of chocolate she had tried once and fell in love with. Hershey's Extra Dark Chocolate. This brand of chocolate was extremely hard to find in London, and was unfortunately also expensive. But she was willing to spend once in a while on her indulgences, she had told herself, doing her best to ignore the cost flashed across the price screen on the cashier. The dark chocolate was kept in a small cute carrier bag and she had walked with her hands possessively carrying it. She knew it was quite childish, but she did not care. She had searched for 4 straight hours and had no intention of her prized possession slipping away from her grasp.

Toby mewled loudly in greeting when Molly entered her apartment. She wondered for a moment why he did that, when she glanced at the clock and gasped at the time: 7.49pm.

"Oh god, that late? Oh Toby, you must be hungry! I'm sorry, I'll go put you some food, okay?" she reassured her cat as she walked to the kitchen, with Toby trailing behind and giving another mew, this time happy, when she filled his bowl with food.

She brought out her favourite chocolate and, taking a bite out of it, kept it in the fridge, a satisfied smile on her face.

It had been a tiring day, doing 3 autopsies in the morning, and 5 in the afternoon and evening. After finishing up the 6th autopsy results, Molly leaned back in her seat yawning, while rubbing her eyes in an attempt to get rid of the sleepiness that threatened to overcome her efforts to stay conscious.

She did not have to worry about sleep now, because Sherlock's dramatic entrance (or rather, the loud slamming when he opened the door) jolted her awake. John appeared with a scowl on his face, then gave a shake of his head. His eyes met Molly's startled ones and he greeted her warmly. Sherlock went straight to the microscope, took out a clear Ziploc bag with some fabric in it, and seated himself on the stool, preparing for its examination.

Molly was about to leave to make coffee for Sherlock (black, two sugars) and John tea (cream, two sugars), when Sherlock, not looking up from the lenses, stopped her. "Wait, Molly."

She turned around, with her eyelids becoming a little heavier and she was using up what's left of her willpower to make them stay open, and waited for another one of his bizarre requests. But what came next was not a bizarre request; rather, a bizarre action.

From Sherlock Holmes, of all people.

He lifted his head and, at the same time, took out a decently wrapped flat object with a ridiculously huge bow taped to it. He held her gaze and extended his hand with the gift to her. Seeing John smiling and nodding for her to take it at the corner of her eyes, Molly, by then fully awake, took a few steps forward until she was able to receive the gift with her two small hands, in comparison to Sherlock's. She looked up to him after a few seconds' worth of inspection of the light object, but was met with his back instead, his eyes having returned to the microscope and fabric. She turned to John, who gestured that she open the gift, with his smile growing bigger when she complied. She unwrapped it carefully (alas, not 'carefully' enough. 3 times the tear of the wrapping paper was heard clearly, with each tear getting larger), and her eyes felt like popping out of her eye sockets.

It was a bar of Hershey's Extra Dark Chocolate.

"John was aware of the hectic schedule you have today," Sherlock explained the reason for the chocolate, adjusting the magnification while not looking at her at all, "so he had suggested to bring you a gift, and I quote, 'to boost your morale when working on the paperwork'."

John caught Molly's eyes and beckoned her closer so that he could whisper into her ear. "The chocolate was all his idea, by the way. He kept on saying you eat it during work shifts, and, since it was rather expensive, and quite hard to find if I may add, he had deduced it to be your favourite guilty pleasure (Molly blushed slightly at this). I also had nothing to do with the wrapping and the horrendous bow."

He leaned back to see her disbelieving and slightly shocked expression. She had thought her loving the chocolate, nonetheless rare brand, was an air-tight secret only she (and maybe Toby) would know! But John then gave her a face that said 'You better believe it. And do you think you could hide anything from that guy?'. She nodded in acceptance and turned around to face Sherlock's back again.

"Thank you, Sherlock," she said shyly and sincerely, truly appreciative of his simple gift, which must have taken him (or maybe one of Mycroft's henchmen…, she added as an afterthought) quite some time to find. He gave a grunt in response.

John shook his head and turned to Molly, a coy grin in place. "Care to share the chocolate with a starving man over here?"


End file.
